Lawyer Claims Julian Assange’s Released Testimony ‘Violated’ Her Client In The Media, Says ‘Assange Seems Desperate’


Elisabeth Massi Fritz doesn’t approve of Julian Assange’s most recent leak. The lawyer, who is acting on behalf of the woman who made rape allegations against Julian, is now accusing Assange of “violating” her client in the media after he released his testimony to the public, according to the Miami Herald. The statement from Fritz comes hours after the WikiLeaks founder released testimony detailing the answers he gave to Swedish officials investigating the case, according to the Guardian.

A room inside the Ecuadorian Embassy is where Julian Assange has resided for six years. [Image by Carl Court/Getty Images]

“Assange seems to be desperate. As soon as he has something to say he calls the media and is conducting the investigation through the media.”

In a combined effort, Julian Assange and his WikiLeaks team have published 19 pages of the statement Julian gave during questioning over rape allegations. Assange, 45, read his statement aloud to investigators in response to questioning.

“The only thing I can say is that Assange has low credibility, which we will prove when we prosecute. I expect the prosecutor to issue charges. I also expect Assange to stop violating my client in the media. She has suffered more than enough for six years.”

The statement published by WikiLeaks is the first time a detailed account by Assange has surfaced. The public had yet to hear Assange thoroughly defend himself against the 2010 rape allegations. Within the statement, Assange asserted that intercourse with the woman, who is known as “S.W.,” was consensual, enjoyable for both parties, and frequent. During the questioning, WikiLeaks founder also gave prosecutors the SMS messages he received from her. According to Julian, these texts prove his innocence.

Since then, according to the Guardian, Julian’s lawyer, Per Samuelsson, said they have been requesting an interview with Assange since 2010. Julian has lived inside the embassy since 2012, where he was granted political asylum by Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa.

“We have requested this interview repeatedly since 2010… Julian Assange has always wanted to tell his version to the Swedish police. He wants a chance to clear his name. We hope the investigation will be closed then.”

The crucial meeting was more than six years in the making. Under Swedish law, an interview with the suspect is a crucial step before issuing charges, according to the Guardian. The Ecuadorean state attorney was accompanied by a Swedish prosecutor who interviewed the WikiLeaks founder over claims that he sexually assaulted two women in 2010, according to the Guardian.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange walks from the Belmarsh Magistrates Court on February 11, 2011. [Image by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]

Julian Assange released a cover letter discussing his reasoning for publishing the given testimony.

“I am now releasing my statement to the public… The reason is simple. I want people to know the truth about how abusive this process has been.”

According to the Guardian, Swedish prosecutors hoped certain aspects of the controversial case would remain shielded from the public. The Swedish prosecutor in the case, Marianne Ny, insisted the proceedings remain private to protect the plaintiff. A spokesperson for Ny told the Guardian she was awaiting the formal report on the interviews from Ecuador (which is due Mid-December) before deciding which steps to take next.

A Swedish and an Ecuadorian prosecutor questioned Assange for a day and a half. Julian claimed the interview in London was “simply a ruse to tick a box to ensure the technical possibility to indict me.”

“… Furthermore, in the past the prosecution has fed partial information to tabloids that politically oppose me… It is better that my statement, which I am happy with, and which makes it obvious to all that I am innocent, sees the light in full.”

Julian Assange said his bank cards were blocked once he arrived in Sweden. Julian said his limited access to money made him dependent on others, according to the Guardian.

“[The woman] appeared to be sympathetic to my plight and also appeared to be romantically interested in me… She was not close to people I was close to, so it seemed that those who meant me harm would be unlikely to try to find me by monitoring her movements.”

Assange claimed the woman “made it very clear that she wanted to have sexual intercourse,” yet the intensity of her interest made Assange fear how she would react if he would possibly reject her.

“I felt concerned about the intensity of [her] interest and I also deeply loved another woman, which played on my mind and left me emotionally distracted.”

The transcript of a police interview with the woman alleging sexual assault was leaked to the media in 2010. After the couple had unprotected sex, she wanted Julian to test for sexually transmitted diseases.

“We were in agreement and arranged to meet the following day in the nearby park around lunchtime when I would have time to get tested. She said she was fine and seemed at ease. You can imagine my disbelief when I woke the next morning to the news that I had been arrested in my absence for ‘rape’ and that police were ‘hunting’ all over Stockholm for me.”

According to Assange, his lawyers briefly had access to text messages sent by the woman. These messages show she was not asleep during intercourse, per the Guardian.

Assange claimed he later discovered she had amassed dozens of photos of him just weeks before they met. According to Assange, her Flickr account was flooded with “pages and pages” of photos of him, according to the Guardian.

Assange’s Six Year Saga, Julian Has “No Quick Way Out”?

There are two separate allegations against Assange — one of rape and one of molestation, according to BBC News. The most serious potential charge of rape against Assange does not expire until August 2020.

Ecuador’s prosecutor, Galo Chiriboga, said Ecuadorean officials would send the official November 14 transcripts of Assange’s evidence to Swedish authorities “in mid-December,” according to the Guardian. Julian Assange has no “quick way out” of the Ecuadorian Embassy after his November 14 interrogation, according to Ecuadorean prosecutors.

“Four years have passed and we are only at this stage, but that is no longer attributable to Ecuador, it is attributable to Swedish prosecutors. I do not think there is a quick way out.”

[Image by Jil C/Shutterstock]

The WikiLeaks founder maintains that he has been robbed of his freedom for the last six years, according to the Guardian. The situation has also taken a toll on Assange’s physical well-being. Assange’s health deteriorated significantly since his confinement. He developed an arrhythmia, high blood pressure, chronic cough, and a Vitamin D deficiency, according to the Observer.

The decision for Assange to release his side of the story appeared to be an effort to place pressure on Ny to speed up the stagnant case.

According to the Guardian, this could get prosecutors to either issue a charge of rape and explain the evidence for the charge or lift the arrest warrant against him. Assange has been denied access to evidence against him due to the risk of it becoming public.

“In the past the prosecution has fed partial information to tabloids that politically oppose me… It is better that my statement, which I am happy with, and which makes it obvious to all that I am innocent, sees the light in full.”

Assange, who is Australian, has said he fears deportation to Sweden and the United States, where he could be charged for the publication of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. According to the Wall Street Journal, Julian also believes if he is extradited to Sweden, he will then be extradited to the U.S., where he could face espionage charges due to leaking thousands of classified documents on the WikiLeaks website.

[Featured Image by Carl Court/Getty Images]

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